Azerbaijan will contribute to the process of liberation of French colonies from the French colonial yoke, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in an interview with Azerbaijani television channels.
"We are ending our chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement, but the Baku Initiative Group will live. We will contribute to the exposure of French neo-colonialism and contribute to the process of liberation of French colonies from the French colonial yoke," Aliyev said.
A coup took place in Niger, a former French colony, on July 26, 2023. President Mohamed Bazoum was ousted and detained by his own guard, led by Gen. Abdourahamane Tiani. Following the coup, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) suspended all cooperation with Niger and threatened an invasion if the rebels did not reinstate Bazoum. In late December 2023, French radio RFI reported that Niger and ECOWAS were negotiating a transition period in the country.
In late September 2023, French President Emmanuel Macron said that the country's military, a total of 1,500 soldiers, would leave Niger until the end of 2023. On December 22, 2023, the last French troops had left Niger.
Meanwhile, Niger’s prime minister, Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, told Sputnik in December 2023 that Niger had not asked France to withdraw troops from the country, as they were needed to fight terrorism.
After the July coup, amid anti-French demonstrations in the country, Niger began to sever ties with its former colonizer, France, amidst widespread anti-French protests throughout the country. In particular, a military and tax cooperation between the two nations were ceased. Nigerien authorities also secured the withdrawal of the French troops, deployed in the West African country, and the expulsion of the French ambassador to Niger, Sylvain Itte.